March 2023 | By Angeleen Olson

Angeleen Olson is a Research Technician at the Hakai Institute’s Calvert Ecological Observatory. She also serves as the coordinator for the MarineGEO Observatory at the Hakai Institute.   

Roadmap to Recovery for the Sunflower Sea Star

In collaboration with leaders across several states, countries, Tribes, First Nations and Hakai scientists, The Nature Conservancy developed a Roadmap to Recovery to accelerate the recovery of sunflower sea star populations throughout their range. If we don’t act now, what will the future bring for the critically endangered sunflower sea star? For the full report: https://bit.ly/SunflowerSeaStar  

Hakai scientists are addressing research objectives 1, 2 and 3 from the roadmap to recovery. In the field, we are documenting the distribution and abundance of remnant populations of sunflower sea stars (as well as the other sea star species) on the central coast of British Columbia. Through this work we are exploring the role of oceanographic conditions, population genomics, and associated microbial communities in population dynamics. In the lab, we are exploring the causative agent of disease, and have so far confirmed that the disease can be transmitted through controlled transmission.